With over 6,000 career assists, Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul has garnered countless comparisons to NBA Hall of Famers, but Isiah Thomas? Maybe not as far-fetched as you think…
In Staples Center last Saturday,Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul eclipsed the 6,000 career assist mark, joining only six players that have surpassed that exceptional feat (John Stockton, Jason Kidd, Magic Johnson, Norm Nixon, Oscar Robertson and Isiah Thomas).
The aforementioned Thomas was in Staples Center to witness the milestone and promptly congratulated Paul during a timeout in L.A’s 112-103 win over the Detroit Pistons, a team that Thomas led to back-to-back NBA Championships in 1989 and 1990.
While Thomas is in the Hall and Paul is more than likely on his way to Springfield, Massachusetts if he keeps the pace he is currently going at, what made/makes them tick?
How could two elite point guards who dominated/dominates their respective eras be so successful?
There are four things that stick out between Thomas and Paul that make their status as difference-makers and world-class basketball tiny titans legitimate.
1) Speed, speed and more speed
They say that speed kills. When Thomas had the ball it certainly killed opposing defenders. To say that he could move faster with the ball than opponents without it is a criminal understatement.
Thomas made no hesitation to simply dice his way to the basket after immediately getting the ball from out of bounds.
Paul in some of these highlights isn’t shy about speed inside the paint either. The similarities to how Thomas penetrated to the hoop are striking. Their ability to change pace so quickly is what made Thomas and what makes Paul so dangerous.
2) Creative Distribution
While Thomas didn’t get the kind of accolades and popularity Magic had in L.A, he gave the city of Detroit an artist with attitude.
When he wasn’t slicing through the defense or draining jump shots from nearly anywhere (a rarity for point guards), Thomas had a certain flair when it came to passing. Even to himself on occasion (At 0:36 of the clip).
For Paul, creativity has never been an issue. Watch at 1:24, he fakes the initial bounce pass to Willie Green, freezing the defender, then on the next dribble he fires a perfect bounce pass to Green who finishes.
3) Ball handling at its very best
Simply put, Thomas had dribbling skills and crossovers that may or may not have been banned in Rucker Park in New York City for being too dangerous and might have hurt the likes of anyone who tried to even get a finger on the ball.
It is quite amazing keeping a dribble when falling down, it’s another thing to turn it into points. Thomas was arguably the fastest and possibly greatest dribbler the league has ever known.
Paul himself is a virtuoso in the dribble-drive. Catch this highlight from last season’s playoffs against the Memphis Grizzlies.
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That is not trick photography, utterly mind-blowing.
4) To play through pain
Thomas in game six of the 1988 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers suffered an ankle sprain early in the third quarter. Sprained ankle usually meant that your night was over, not on Thomas’ watch. He proceeded to gamely score 25 points in the quarter and even though the Pistons lost the game and the series, it showed that Thomas would one day not be denied (Pistons then won back-to-back in 89’ and 90’).
Paul this year has had to play through a series of nagging injuries and is still getting it done. In that game against Detroit on Saturday, CP3 had 28 points and 15 assists, on a night where the Clippers could have rested Paul for the road trip coming up this week.
Even though Thomas has two NBA Titles to Paul’s zero, darn near everything else puts these two together as equals. With the Clippers looking the way they are this year and in the future, some rings might be in the works for Paul soon enough.
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